What should service providers be doing differently to help people living with HIV stay healthy and active into old age? At the recent OHTN Research Conference in Toronto, John McCullagh put this question to Lisa Power of the UK’s Terrence Higgins Trust

Thanks to ART, those of us with HIV are now living much longer. But aging with HIV is not without its challenges. In addition to the normal aging process, people aging with HIV face complications associated with the virus, side effects of treatment and high rates of comorbidities with conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, renal disease, arthritis and osteoporosis. And often we experience social isolation and financial challenges as well.
So what should service providers be

What is driving high infection rates in the gay and bi men’s community? And what techniques might work best to address this epidemic within an epidemic? Editor Bob Leahy talks to Patrick Sullivan at the 2012 OHTN Research Conference

One of the most interesting sessions at last month’s Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN) 2012 Research Conference in Toronto was a plenary called “Is Treatment Enough Prevention?” This session focussed on the recent discourse concerning the potential for antiretroviral therapy to reduce infectiousness and thus, the theory goes, reduce infection rates. But to what extent does treatment as prevention work with gay men? If it hasn’t worked so far, why not? And does a discourse

It was my first year attending the Gay Men’s Health Summit this November (the 8th annual organized by the Community-Based Research Centre for Gay Men’s Health) and the organizers dished out an impressive program.
While efforts to de-stigmatize HIV testing have been encouraging everyone who has ever had sex to get tested (an important effort!) HIV remains a heavy burden for the gay community, an issue conference organizers insist needs to be brought into the light. While in Vancouver it is

Bob Leahy reports from Gananoque, Ontario where he catches up with the men and women of Friends for Life, the 623 km bike rally from Toronto to Montreal that's a fundraiser for the Toronto PWA Foundation.

Gananoque, Ontario is a historic little town on the banks of Lake Ontario where it narrows in to the St Lawrence River, just east of Kingston. It’s known as the gateway to the Thousand Islands, which means it attracts a large and steady stream of visitors in the summer months who come to view the natural beauty of the area. But even with all those tourists it somehow remains a sleepy spot – old Ontario towns are like that – particularly the park in the centre of town.
But that

CBC Q Host Jian Ghomeshi, live on radio today, said some stirring things about LGBT achievements over the past year, about Pride Toronto and the fact that, remarkably, the big parade coincides this year with Canada Day. Jian, also remarkably, is straight.

The following was transcribed from the taped broadcast on the CBC Q web site. You can hear the broadcast by clicking on the June 28 show here.
The CBC is Canada's publicly funded broadcaster. Q is the daily morning arts, culture and entertainment talk show hosted by Jian Ghomeshi.
This is how Jian opened today's show.
Opening music . . .
Jian Ghomeshi: Well, hi there.
Happy Friday. And it’s high time for Pride, in Toronto that is.
There are many celebrations and events in the LG

New US guidelines released just last week recommend treatment for all people with HIV infection. Are they a step in the right direction, something that others should consider following? Bob Leahy reports.

Newly updated US treatment guidelines are recommending antiretroviral treatment for all people with HIV infection, rather than starting at a particular CD4 range. But for those about to start treatment and their doctors, it’s not quite that simple; the strength of the recommendations varies by category of patient. Here is how a simplified scale looks:
CD4 count less than 350 – strong recommendation
CD4 count 350 to 500 - strong recommendation
CD4 count over 500 – moderate recommend

Transman and guest writer Wesley Austin from Kitchener, Ontario in the first part of his inspiring story.

Hi, my name is Wes and I’m almost three years old!
Ok, that’s not exactly true, my body is 36 years old. However the person everyone knows as Wes has existed for only about three years. You see, I identify as transgender and spent much of my life living, loving, socializing and interacting as a woman.
When I was born, I’m sure the doctor said “Congratulations, it’s a girl” and from that perspective the doctor was correct. My body was born female, two X chromosomes and everything

Well, since a certain "Pierre Poutine" has been in the news of late, I have finally decided it is time to give in to Bob's persistent exhortations to write about this gooey delight we know as poutine
I say "we know" rather loosely, because I suspect I am about to introduce you to some incarnations of poutine that do not resemble the dish you might love to "dis". Oh yes, there are many forms of poutine, and I suspect that the ones seen beyond the borders of Québec are but pale imitations of

Daniel Uy says “Sometimes we all get sick, but at least we can lay on our funny bed.”

So I am writing from my sickbed... or rather my sick couch. I forget at times that even though strong, I am not infallible.
When the body says rest, you rest. It’s just that simple. But it doesn’t have to be a depressing time.
Here is my favourite pick of five movies to watch when down for the day!
5 - Priscilla Queen of the Desert
It’s fun. It’s camp. And I can go in and out of consciousness and still know all the lines and can see the picture with my eyes closed.
4-

Less than two months ago, Josh Robbins, a safer-sex poster boy, filmed himself getting the news that he’d tested HIV-positive. Here’s his story.

I didn’t know one person who was HIV-positive before I walked down that long hallway to get the results of my recent-exposure HIV test. I didn’t know one person who was HIV-positive before I made a decision, on December 18, 2011, to have unprotected sex, based on my assumptions about someone’s character instead of my knowledge of their status. But everything changed for me on January 24, 2012. On that day, the answer I have given for my entire life - that I’m negative - changed.
Hello